Monstrous Mondays: The Demon Sultan

Virginia Frances Sterrett
http://cizgilimasallar.blogspot.com/2011/09/
virginia-frances-sterrett-arabian.html

An exiled potentate from Beyond, The Demon Sultan was the first ambassador to take up residence in the city of Otherway. The Demon Sultan dwells deep in the caverns below the city's Embassy Tower, which rose from the ground in a single day and night after his arrival. Within his caverns, The Demon Sultan engages in fine dining with the occasional visitor and sharpens his nails on the roots of Gate Trees.

His name is a nonsense word from one of the multitude of languages in the Beyond. Quite unpronounceable by mortals, The Demon Sultan's name has been said to sounds like a fever blister or the din of a thousand love-smitten wasps spurned by a Ruk. You won't hear these sounds when you approach his caverns though. Your feet will be making too much noise of their own. Crunch, crunch, crunch your feet will go when you approach his caverns: a carpet of insect exoskeletons crushes under your as you approach His Excellency Below.

A few visitors to his caverns have struck strong bargains with The Demon Sultan. Among the great families of Otherway, you can tell these people from the bluish cast of their skin. It is said that the demon's blood runs in these families' veins, and that as a result of this, their diets and appetites have become rather eccentric. During his annual month of fasting, The Demon Sultan will take up residence in one or more of their homes.

Visitors to Otherway are cautioned to buy one of the simple protective amulets sold in Otherway's Gate Market. Without some form of protection, The Demon Sultan can spell you into his caverns and then proceed to feast on your flesh. Many travelers dismissive of the local customs have found themselves lost forever in precisely this way. Most Otherwayans take no chances; they have a midwife tattoo protective charms on their children as soon as they are born.